Over the past ten years, addressing what Strategic Communications is has been a challenge for the military community. It is at times referred to as a process, referred to in the context of the strategic level of war, and referred to in the context...
The United States government and the US military are struggling with strategic communications. To succeed the USG must improve its ability to understand the social context and cultural characteristics of the population, identify target audiences...
This paper proposes a working theory of operational art as practiced in counterinsurgency war (i.e., modern war). The underlying hypothesis of the paper is that operational art in modern war uses different logic than that used in conventional war....
If strategists do not follow Clausewitz’s lead as a critical historian, then they risk failure by founding future policy, strategy, and operations on Kosovo myths. One must ask, was Operation Allied Force a rational use of military power to...
As with a local insurgency, the Global War on Terror requires the US and her allies to win the support of neutral, wavering and hostile audiences in addition to defeating an enemy. At the tactical and operational levels of war, those audiences...
In a constantly changing world threatened by ever increasing terrorist acts, American interests, both at home and abroad, require protection provided by great military leaders. In order to produce military leaders who can successfully meet the...
The U.S. Army’s new capstone doctrine, Field Manual (FM) 3-0, Operations, recognizes that information is a powerful weapon in the conduct of full-spectrum operations. Like other weapons, the effects of information must be synchronized with the...
As operations in Afghanistan and Iraq demonstrate, America's adversaries are capable of manipulating domestic and international media with lies, distortion and propaganda disseminated via the internet or media outlets. The U.S. military's inability...
This monograph examines the conduct of biometrically supported census operations as a population control measure in a counterinsurgency campaign. First, the monograph explores why the conduct of such an operation is relevant in the current...
The Vietnam War and Operation Allied Force are two examples of coercive strategy characterized by gradual escalation of violence. They both involved significant discord between policymakers and the military leaders called upon to execute the...
This monograph establishes a theoretical foundation for stability operations doctrine. It defines a tactical approach to ‘limited warfare’, applicable across a wide range of stability scenarios, with the hope that the reader will gain a higher...
The post Cold War era has seen an increase in international violence and internal conflicts ignited by nationalism, separatist ethnic groups, and religious fundamentalism. As the world's only superpower, the United States has been pressured to...
The security force framework devised for prosecuting a counterinsurgency campaign is essential. A security framework identifies roles and responsibilities for the different organizations that comprise the overall counterinsurgent force. Part of...
In 1981, Israel conducted a pre-emptive strike on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor. Then Israel bombed a Syrian nuclear reactor at al-Kibar in 2007. Today, Israel is facing a new challenge as it considers Iran's nuclear program. This thesis is a...
The Arab Spring has demonstrated the power and potential of social mobilization and collective action as a form of political warfare in support of unconventional warfare strategies. This power and potential is not isolated to the Arab Spring or to...
There are many critics who have concluded that the US Government has not successfully conducted communication with its public during the current, persistent conflict, but perhaps one of the earliest was Ted Koppel. In 2001, responding to a question...
This work applies the diffusion of innovations theory in the analysis of the USG's governance and development efforts in Afghanistan to determine if the key elements of diffusion of innovations are present. This study further examines if, when...
Colombia's future hangs in the balance with dire implications for Latin America and U.S. national interests. After almost forty-five years of existential conflict, Colombia has the opportunity to be a peaceful and stable country, which is essential...
The United States has now invaded Iraq on two separate occasions. These invasions offer some interesting similarities such as occurring on nearly the same terrain with similar equipment and against Iraqi forces under the leadership of Saddam...
Lested, Douglas; Davis, Ronald; Harden, Harold; Defeat of Athenians at Syracuse
Thesis. The use of the proven principles of war could have
prevented the Athenian defeat at Syracuse.
Discussion. In 415-413 BC, Athens, the most powerful force in
the Mediterranean, laid siege to the Sicilian city of Syracuse.
Their unstated goal...